BLUE-EYED beauty Crystal Gayle is set to play the INEC on Friday, March 12.

Most famous for her string of hit singles including; Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue and Talking In Your Sleep and with almost three dozen hit records to her credit, Crystal is widely recognised as one of the most popular female country singers of all time.

She has come a long way from her roots in the Appalachian coal mining town of Paintsville, Kentucky. The youngest of eight children, Crystal was influenced by a wide variety of music growing up.

She listened to folk, pop, rock and roll, Broadway show tunes, gospel and country with equal fascination. As a small child, she sang along with Lesley Gore, Brenda Lee and Patsy Cline on the radio. Loretta Lynn, Crystal's older sister, also encouraged her. While growing up, Crystal travelled and sang with Loretta for a few weeks each summer.

While still in school Crystal signed her first recording contract. Her debut single, I've Cried (The Blue Right Out of My Eyes), was written by Loretta Lynn and reached the Top 25 on the American country music charts. Her first-ever album, titled simply Crystal Gayle, was released in 1974, and the following year she landed her first Top Ten country hit, Wrong Road Again. In 1976, I'll Get Over You, became the first of her 17 number one country singles.

Crystal's fourth album, We Must Believe In Magic, included the international country and pop smash Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue. This song garnered substantial international airplay, and won Crystal a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal. More hit records soon followed including Talking In Your Sleep, Half The Way, If You Ever Change Your Mind, The Woman In Me and Livin' In These Troubled Times. Crystal's list of platinum and gold record sales was to be matched only by her awards and accolades. She was awarded the CMAs Female Vocalist Of The Year for two consecutive years and she became a Grammy Award Winner for Best Female Vocal Performance. Crystal swept the Academy Of Country Music Awards for three of their Top Female Vocalist statuettes. As her music and her career path widened to mainstream audiences so did her accolades.

One of the most fitting honours in her career came in 1999 when Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue was recognised by ASCAP as one being one of the ten most performed songs of the 20th century.

Tickets to see Crystal Gayle live at the INEC, Killarney on Friday, March 12 cost €39.50 and are available from the INEC Box Office.